Collaboraction Presents Virtual Play LIFT EVERY VOICE

When a racist Snapchat makes its way around a high school its students are left to grapple with their own history, biases and privilege.

Based on a true story, Lift Every Voice - a short, world premiere work of virtual theater - explores the impact of racism in urban high schools, speaks to critical social issues and exposes the current cultural climate in the United States.

This weekend only, Collaboraction, Chicago's theater for social change, will present three FREE performances of Lift Every Voice via Zoom.

Show times are Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, October 25 at 3 p.m.

Visit collaboraction.org to reserve a free ticket. A live, Crucial Conversation will follow all screenings of this special performance.

Lift Every Voice debuted to critical acclaim as a live production at Collaboraction's 2020 Encounter Series last January at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. As the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter Global Movement continued to manifest, Collaboraction realized Lift Every Voice could be a timely, powerful virtual tool to spur dialogue and anti-racism.

So Collaboraction reunited the original cast and crew to re-stage the 25-minute play as an "of this moment" Zoom meeting of student council leaders sorting through the controversy ignited school-wide by a racist Snapchat.

Lift Every Voice is written by G. Riley Mills and Willie Round and directed by Rory Jobst. The cast includes Robert Hunter Bry, Alexa Maria Huerta, Cayla Jones, Jack Lancaster, Gavin D. Pak and Meredith Rupp. The production was shot and produced with Collaboration's six-point pandemic safety protocols. All artists and staff were all paid equitably to produce this work.

This weekend's free Lift Every Voice previews are presented as part of Collaboraction's "We Still Dream" virtual festival, including the just-opened annual Peacebook series, culminating November 14 with the company's annual Utopian Ball.
Following this weekend's free previews, Lift Every Voice will join Collaboraction's Together Network for on demand online viewing. Collaboraction is also licensing Lift Every Voice as a virtual teaching asset to high school teachers and students in Chicago and throughout the country.

Interested educators should contact Collaboraction at info@collaboraction.org. For more, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.